Every minute, a baby is born with a cleft. I've decided to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon to raise awareness for the work that Smile Train do.

As a practising dentist - health, but especially oral health is of paramount importance to me. Smile Train is the world largest cleft-focussed charity and since 1992 they have helped to transform the lives of over 2 million children.

What are clefts and what are the causes?

Globally, one in 700 babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate. Clefts occur when certain body parts and structures do not fuse together during foetal development. Clefts can involve the lip and/or the roof of the mouth. No one knows exactly, but most experts agree that there are many reasons why someone might be born with a cleft, including genetics and environmental issues such as drug and alcohol use, smoking, maternal illness, infections, or lack of vitamin B, also known as folic acid.

Smile Train empowers medical professionals around the world with training, funding, and resources to provide free surgery and other forms of comprehensive cleft care to children in their communities. Our sustainable solution and scalable global health model drastically improve children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive.

Supporting Smile Train gives a child access to a full range of cleft services they would have otherwise never received and ultimately the opportunity for a better quality of life.

Thank you for taking the time to read and for your kind donation.